Life and the production of entropy
- 23 November 1987
- journal article
- Published by The Royal Society in Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. B. Biological Sciences
- Vol. 232 (1267), 181-192
- https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1987.0067
Abstract
It appears that living communities serve to augment the rate of entropy production over what it would be in the absence of biota. This hypothesis might be tested by comparing the spectra of electromagnetic fluxes incident to and emanating from the surface of the Earth. An added measure of the value of stored energy to ecosystems is derived by using the economic theory of discounting.Keywords
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